IU's software agreement with Microsoft

About the agreement

In June 2009, Indiana University renewed its agreement with Microsoft. Now called the IU/Microsoft Campus Agreement with Core Server Site License, the agreement for the first time includes server software for IU departments for official use. This agreement is in effect from June 1, 2014, through May 31, 2017. Consistent with the philosophy of abundance as adopted in Action 6 of Empowering
People, the agreement leverages economies of scale to enable expanded use of technology and provide full institutional coverage for the university.

Microsoft products are industry standards, demand is high, and support for these products is strong. Due to a continued increase in spending to acquire Microsoft products, IU and Microsoft created an arrangement that allowed the university to better leverage its expenditures and Microsoft to better serve its university clients. The original four-year agreement, the Microsoft Enterprise License Agreement (MSELA), signed in 1998 and renewed for an additional year, expired June 30, 2003. In 2003, at no increased cost to IU, IU and the Microsoft Corporation entered into a new three-year agreement, the IU/Microsoft Campus Agreement (CA). In 2006, the CA was renewed for another three years, and in 2009 for four more years.

The CA provides IU with the most popular Microsoft products, including operating systems, desktop productivity tools, and infrastructure server and messaging products. IU distributes many of these products to all on-campus computers, to students for home use, and to faculty and staff to use at home provided they also use the products on university-owned resources at work. Additional products are available for departmental use.

Under the CA, IU students, faculty, and staff can download many of Microsoft's most popular software products for free through IUware. Also, throughout the life of the CA, they can upgrade to the latest versions of these Microsoft products at no additional licensing cost.

IU's contract with Microsoft is written in such a way as to refer to the general category of products (e.g., "desktop suite", which includes a spreadsheet, word processor, presentation software, and database). This covers both new versions and new releases for each line of software. It is unlikely that Microsoft will substantially change the current products in these software lines, but IU is covered by this wording in case that occurs. This holds true for operating system upgrades, as long as Microsoft works within the Windows or Windows NT product suite. UITS believes this will be the case through the period covered by this contract.

If brand-new products are released, they will not be covered under the CA. However, if this occurs, IU may work with Microsoft to add the products to the CA.

In the event that Microsoft sells off a given product or product line to another company, the contract contains provisions that allow for the assignment of IU's rights under the contract to other parties. If this happens, IU would establish a similar licensing agreement with the new company for the remainder of the term of the CA.

Products not covered under the announced CA will not be added, unless substantial demand across the institution can be identified and requisite funding to support their inclusion obtained. The remainder of the Microsoft product suite will, however, continue to be available at a discounted price to IU departments (though not individuals) via the Select Pricing program. Contact your campus purchasing department for details. Funding for any products acquired in this way will be the responsibility of the department.

Eligibility for non-server software

IU students, faculty and retired faculty, staff, and departments may use the non-server products covered by the CA in campus offices, labs, and campus housing on all IU campuses. Microsoft products may not be distributed to retired staff.

Only currently enrolled students may participate in the CA software distribution. However, students who are enrolled for a future semester (e.g., students registered for the fall semester when currently it is summer) may participate in the CA software distribution if they can show proof of registration.

Each student or IU employee may take home (on- or off-campus) one copy of all licensed software for use on a personally owned computer.

Each student (full- or part-time) owns the license for the current product release when the student graduates from IU. To upgrade to a new version, get release patches, or receive support, the student must register ownership with Microsoft. UITS will facilitate this process.

Faculty and staff may use the products on personally owned computers at home as long as they have copies on their university-owned computers at work. Those who do not use a computer at work may not take the software home.

Because faculty and staff home use is dependent upon use at work, faculty and staff (unless they are also IU students) will not be licensed to use, or have access to, the software once they are no longer employed with IU.

Departments do not need to purchase Windows Server licenses with their new server hardware. Departments can obtain full versions at no cost from IUware.

Departments at all campuses are eligible.

The CA license is a lease, not a perpetual license. Conceptually, it's similar to a rental, and you are able to get and use any upgrades that come out during the life of the license. If the contract is not renewed, the license expires and departments must purchase the license to keep using the software. The buy-out price is typically less than a new license, but not necessarily by a significant amount. Prior purchases are not refundable.

If you are running an older version of the software, you will be able to upgrade at no cost.

If your department upgrades to a newer version during the life of the license and it is not renewed, you would then need to either purchase a new license or revert to the previous version you were using. This would be true for each copy you are using. If the license is not renewed, you could continue to use any version you had purchased.

You will no longer need Software Assurance (maintenance). If the agreement expires, you may continue to purchase Software Assurance for the perpetual licenses you already own.

The agreement does not impact Windows Services licenses loaned to various IU departments by UITS, as they are perpetual licenses owned by UITS and are covered for upgrades by the new agreement.

Software will be available for IT Pros to download via IUware. Media will be listed on the Microsoft Select price list and be available for purchase using an IU purchase order.

The Microsoft Select agreement is still in effect (June 1, 2009, through May 31, 2018). You can use an IU Purchase Order to order software not covered under the agreement; see Contract List. You can purchase such software either with or without Software Assurance (maintenance). Software Assurance for such products will need to be renewed at the end of the contract.